


Breathe

by neveralarch



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-04
Updated: 2012-09-04
Packaged: 2017-11-13 14:10:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/504340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neveralarch/pseuds/neveralarch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek gets seriously injured, but his pack and the last of his family are there to take care of him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breathe

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [a prompt](http://christhemsworth.livejournal.com/614.html?thread=149862) on the spice up your life rare pairs ficathon.

Derek stumbles along toward the Pack's current den, a condemned building on the outskirts of town that's still more structurally stable than the old Hale house. Boyd's supporting him on one side and Erica's holding him up on the other. Isaac's in front, making sure that the way is clear, which is good because Derek's eyes are closed, have been for a while, feel too heavy to open again. Maybe he'll just stay like this, drift away and let his betas take care of everything-

"Hey, stay with me," Boyd mumbles into his ear, and Derek jerks a little, tries to stay with him. They walk forever, and then they're home and he's safe and he's dying.

"What are we going to do?" Erica is quieter than normal, too quiet, and her voice sounds raw. Boyd doesn't say anything as he lies Derek down on the futon pad they keep on the floor for crashing on. Derek bumps one of his gunshot wounds, and his eyes snap open as the pain hits. His side feels like it's burning, not the slow burn from a singed finger but the heavy fast burn of catching fire. He whimpers, and then Erica's fingers are in his hair and Boyd's hands are turning him so he can lie on his other side, and Isaac is cleaning sweat from his face with a damp, cool cloth. Maybe those things don't happen so close together, or even in that order, Derek's not sure. His eyes are closed again, and there's nothing but the pain and the dark and his pack.

"We should get the vet," says Isaac. "Maybe he-"

"We can't leave Derek here like this," says Erica.

"One of us should go," says Boyd. "The other two stay."

"The Hunters are still out there," says Erica, "it's not safe to go alone-" and then Derek whimpers again, can't help himself, and they all go quiet. Erica's fingers in his hair, Boyd's hands careful around his wounds, Isaac cleaning his face. If Derek is going to die like this, he'll die like he should, with his pack around him.

Erica starts howling first, and then Isaac joins in, and Boyd's voice completes it, a mourning howl, instinctive. One of them should kill Derek, take the alpha role from him. Derek clears his throat to tell them, and the door bangs open.

"What do you think you're doing?" asks Peter.

The howl stops, abruptly. The Pack shifts around, like they're each waiting for another person to answer. Derek can hear Peter's foot tapping, and he can feel himself smile as he imagines the scene; three embarrassed teenagers and Peter rolling his eyes at them. Derek's still too tired to look up and see it for himself.

"Um," says Isaac, at last. "I think we were howling for Derek's death? Or something?"

"You're premature," says Peter. His footsteps get louder as he gets closer to the bed. "Look, he's still breathing, and bleeding, and being very alive."

"Not for long." Boyd doesn't sound happy about that, but he's matter-of-fact. "He took three bullets for us, and they must have had Wolf's Bane in them. Look at him, he's not healing."

"Obviously," says Peter. "But we can't sit around howling - we have work to do. Isaac and Erica, go get Doctor Deaton, right now. Boyd, keep watch outside and make sure you weren't followed."

The Pack's hands tighten around Derek. He'd clutch back if he could move his fingers with any reliability.

"You're not our Alpha," says Erica.

"A very good point," says Peter. "But if you don't listen to me, then Derek won't be your Alpha either, because Derek will be dead and the three of you will be on your own. Omegas." Every word falls into place calmly and with certainty, and Peter was always good at predicting terrible futures.

Derek feels the flinch that runs through the Pack. Erica and Isaac don't say anything, just get up and go. Boyd pushes away from Derek, but he doesn't follow the other betas outside.

"I don't think you should be alone with Derek," he says.

"You think I'm planning to take over the Pack by killing Derek." Peter sits on the bed. "Good. I'm glad someone's thinking. Keep watch by the door, then."

Boyd takes a few steps away, and Peter is pulling Derek's head into his lap. Derek tries to turn his face into Peter's stomach, breathe in the scent of family and Pack while he dies, but Peter tsks and moves Derek's head away.

"Look at me," says Peter. "Look at me, Derek."

Derek tries, but he can only just slit his eyes open. Peter tsks again, and uses his fingertips to pull Derek's eyelids up. Derek tries to focus on Peter, but he can't, the room is swimming and the lights are too bright, and-

"You're smiling," says Peter, and Derek's eyes snap to the movement of his mouth, just for a moment.

"It was funny," says Derek. Peter isn't holding his eyes open anymore, but Derek can bear the lights and the tiredness for just a second, just a couple seconds.

"I'm waiting for the rest of that sentence," says Peter. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"When you were tapping your foot," explains Derek. "You used to do that when I was little and Laura and Jesse would hide up in the big tree and not come down for dinner-"

"Fingers, Derek," says Peter, when Derek trails off, caught up in memories.

"Three?" guesses Derek, even though his eyes have already slid shut again. Peter sighs, and doesn't do anything when Derek turns his face into Peter's stomach again.

"This isn't aconite poisoning," Peter says. "If they shot you with Wolf's Bane, you'd be awake and alert right up until your heart stopped beating. This is... a barbiturate overdose, maybe, or-"

"How do you know this stuff?" mumbles Derek into Peter's shirt. He smells like old blood and ash and loam. Derek wants to bury himself in Peter's scent.

"I'm using my phone to look it up on Wikipedia," says Peter. His hand ruffles through Derek's hair. "This must be barbiturates. Oh, now listen to this. 'Veterinarians use pentobarbital to anesthetize animals before surgery; in large doses, it can be used to euthanize animals.' Someone thought they were being clever. Should have stuck with the classics."

Derek tries to shove himself closer to Peter, but he feels too weak, can't do much more than shift his head in Peter's lap. Peter lets him struggle for a moment, then hooks an arm around Derek's shoulders and presses him tight against his chest.

"You're not dying," says Peter. "The pentobarbital must be suppressing your healing, but once it moves through your system, you'll be fine. Deaton can patch up your wounds, and then all you'll have to deal with will be the embarrassment of being a grown man who snuggled with his uncle."

Derek doesn't try to reply, just presses his face against Peter and breathes and breathes and breathes. Peter makes a huffing sound that's not like a sigh, it's much too pleased and content to be a sigh, and they stay like that until Boyd calls out that Isaac and Erica are coming, and then the three betas are running to Derek's side as Doctor Deaton pulls supplies out of his medical bag.

Erica and Boyd hold Derek's hands as Deaton starts cleaning the wounds, and Isaac squeezes Derek's leg as Deaton starts stitching the first gunshot wound back together, and Peter keeps Derek's head still as Deaton ties off the knot on the last closed wound.

"Thank you," mumbles Derek, when it's over, and he means it to everyone, every single one of them, but it's Peter who says "You're welcome."


End file.
